Friction
by FieryPhoenix
Summary: “No gem can be polished without a little friction.” Thrust into a world that neither knows, Draco and Hermione discover this truth as they struggle to save a forgotten realm and escape the futures that have been dealt to them. DHr! :)
1. The Task

**Friction**

Summary: "No gem can be polished without a little friction." Thrust into a world that neither knows, Draco and Hermione discover this truth as they struggle to save a forgotten realm and escape the futures that have been dealt to them. D/Hr!! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the wonderful characters that were created by the lovely and talented JK Rowling. However, the plot and all characters and made-up settings that you will encounter and do not recognize belong to me. :)

**_Chapter 1- The Task_**

Death.

It is what Draco Malfoy, only son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, had been bred for. He was not the product of a loyal and devoted relationship, nor was he a symbol of the sacred union between a loving husband and wife. To his parents, Draco was but the mere result of the need to produce a child that would partake in the murderous exploits of the Dark Arts and one day join the ranks of the Death Eaters, serving the evil—but powerful—Lord Voldemort.

Throughout his childhood, Draco had been trained to maintain the evil behaviour of the generations of Malfoys before him. His parents had told him over and over that Malfoys were superior—better than most. Draco, in all his pureblood glory, was at the top of the hierarchy, with lowly half-bloods, pitiful mudbloods, and despicable Muggles far beneath him.

Purebloods considered themselves a race all their own—the "perfect" race—and Draco's goal as a member of this race, his parents had said, was to rid the world of all who were unfit to reside in it. Mudbloods, rubbish that put the name wizard to shame, Muggles, the reason wizards had been forced to live in secret, and half-bloods, the mere result of a perfectly pure wizard mating with dirty-blooded filth are all those who are inapt to coexist with kingly purebloods.

All through his young life, Draco was taught these principles again and again until they had been drilled into his head. He was never given a choice as to which path he wanted to follow in life, and Draco never questioned this lack of control over his future. He had everything, and it was his father and mother who gave it to him. If they wanted to control his life, he wasn't fool enough to stop them.

This attitude was why Draco Malfoy was sitting perched upon a chair in the study of the Malfoy Manor on a particularly crisp late summer night with a determined look on his face, patiently awaiting news from his father.

Tonight was to be a milestone in Draco's life. He was set to begin his seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in a short week. Immediately following his graduation, Draco was to be formally admitted into the ranks of the Death Eaters. However, it wasn't exactly a simple process.

Every once in a while, a bad seed would be born into a pureblood family. This child was basically the runt of the litter. The child's brain would prove to be unshapeable, and he or she would rebel against the family, resisting the destiny that it had been born for. Most of these children were outspoken about this, and were quickly disposed of, but some clever ones disguised the truth well, acting the part of the evil servant while in reality becoming a spy for the good side.

It was because of this that Draco and the other soon-to-be followers of the Dark Lord had to prove themselves. Lord Voldemort couldn't let just anybody onto his side. He had to be sure that they were sincere, that they could kill their classmates, teachers, and neighbours without a second thought. His Death Eaters had no feelings. They had hearts as hard and cold as stone, and their children had to prove to be the same, or they would be executed accordingly.

Tonight, the Dark Lord had selected Draco to perform a particularly significant murder as his test. This murder was a key move in Voldemort's strategy, and it would prove young Mr. Malfoy's loyalty to Voldemort 100% if the boy was able to perform the deed.

As the clock in the study struck eleven o'clock, Lucius Malfoy entered the study where his son sat, waiting. Draco rose as his father entered the room.

Lucius gazed upon his son with pride. As Draco stood there, draped in a coal black cloak with an ebony mask concealing his face, all except for his silver eyes that were peering sharply out, Lucius was reminded strongly of himself at that age, draped in the same attire and waiting to be let loose into the world where he could wreak havoc and drive fear into people's hearts.

"Draco," his father addressed him, "the Dark Lord is ready. Your task has been set and everything has been prepared. Follow my instructions carefully and this test should go very smoothly."

As Draco gazed at his father, his stare unwavering and his eyes showing no emotion, Lucius continued, "I trust you will not disappoint me tonight. You have been thoroughly trained and you are more than ready for this, so I expect nothing but the best show of your talents. Come now, Draco. We must not keep the Dark Lord waiting."

Lucius turned and strode briskly from the study, his own coal black Death Eater apparel billowing menacingly behind him. Draco was right on his tail, and the two cloaked figures made their way through the Manor and out into the cool night.

As soon as the two men reached the outer boundaries of the grounds, Lucius whispered hurriedly to his son their destination, and with two loud pops, the men disappeared.

Looking around at where they had arrived, Draco noticed that they were on a quiet little residential street. The houses were all rather similar looking and placed quite close together. Here and there a faint light shone through a window but it seemed that Lucius and Draco's arrival had gone relatively unnoticed.

As Draco stood staring at his surroundings, his father cruelly grabbed his arm and led him harshly into a shadowy, well-kept playground on one side of the street. There were no lights at all to light the playground at night, so Draco allowed himself to be led blindly through a small forest of trees on the far side of the playground.

Deep within a grove of large, overgrown pine trees, Lucius stopped. As Draco came to a halt, he saw before him a faint light being held by a tall, cloaked man. Around this man, four Death Eaters were kneeling on the ground, apparently bowing before their master, and Lucius quickly joined them. Draco deduced rather quickly that the man in the center was none other than the Dark Lord himself. For some reason, a shiver ran down Draco's spine and he gulped down a sudden bout of nervousness.

Draco had never actually met Voldemort before. Yes, he often bragged about knowing the powerful, menacing Dark Lord, and his fellow Slytherins fell for it, listening eagerly to the tales of torture and bloodshed that Draco had witnessed, but these stories were merely the result of eavesdropping on his father's 'private' conversations with the other Death Eaters.

Now, for a brief, fleeting moment as Voldemort raised his head, revealing two bright crimson eyes that pierced Draco's silver one's, Draco wished he was anywhere but actually in the presence of the Dark Lord. He quickly shook his head lightly to rid himself of these thoughts, and concentrated on the task that was set before him. Taking a few steps forward so that he was within five feet of Voldemort, Draco stood and waited until the Dark Lord spoke to him.

"Come, my dear boy. You must be most curious to discover what you will be performing for me tonight. Your father tells me that you are quite a powerful wizard, and I see in your eyes that you are indeed. As a result, I have appointed you the task of performing one of the most important murders in my scheme. Are you willing to accept that responsibility?"

Voldemort continued to stare hard into Draco's eyes, and with an equally unwavering stare, Draco replied, "Yes, my master. I am prepared to serve you in whatever way you see fit, and if you believe that this is the task for me, I am most willing to perform it for you."

Voldemort smiled. The boy seemed to be very obedient. He would be a remarkable addition to his Death Eaters, and with his obvious strength, power and abilities, he would help him conquer the wizarding world quite quickly.

"Very well. We must now promptly get started. As you know, that wretched classmate of yours, Harry Potter, is the only possible danger for me at this time. Destroying him would guarantee my future success, and it will be a rapid success if I am to encounter no more setbacks caused by that despicable boy. That vile Dumbledore has got Potter protected under every protection spell possible, however, and to seek him out would be nearly impossible. Do you know what the solution to this is Draco, my dear boy?"

Draco was startled momentarily when he was addressed by Voldemort, but quickly recovered and thought hard. He believed that he knew the solution, but was quite afraid to present the Dark Lord with an incorrect thought. Finally, he spoke.

"Er...Well, I believe that the solution would be to lure the filthy halfblood to us."

"Exactly, Draco," Voldemort answered with what Draco thought must be a cross between a smile and a sneer. "This was attempted a year and a half ago when I lured him to the Ministry of Magic to retrieve the prophecy for me. The attempt was unsuccessful, but as a result of that attempt I now am certain about how to lure him to us, as well as knowing my fault in my plan last time."

"What was this fault, my Lord?"

"Silence Draco. You do not speak unless spoken to. I see you still have a lot to learn."

Draco stood still as a stone as Voldemort stood staring at him, waiting for him to say anything else. Draco stayed silent however, and Voldemort continued.

"Now, as I was saying, there was a fault in my previous plan that I have dealt with in this strategy. I lured Potter to the Hall of Prophecies with the image of his tortured godfather, Sirius Black. Potter's weakness, and the weakness of most other humans, was his emotions. His so-called 'love' for Black and his heroic ways led him straight into the palm of my hand. But upon arriving at the destination of the image, he discovered that his godfather was, in fact, safe. This was the error I made. Potter was then able to fight back, with few or no emotions clouding his mind and affecting his ability to battle. As a result, Potter and his little friends escaped, and I did not have the prophecy."

Voldemort stopped here with a look of hatred on his face and then raised his arms, motioning around him.

"This, my boy, is where my new, successful plan begins, and you will be the one to begin it. We are in the neighbourhood of one of Potter's best friends: the mudblood girl. We will not lure Potter with a vision; this time we will lure him with the girl. He, having to always act the hero, will come to rescue her. We, of course, will have a little fun with her first, and upon seeing the mudblood, or what's left of her, Potter's emotions will intrude on his fighting abilities so much that I will swiftly gain the upper hand and the Boy-Who-Lived will become the Boy-Who-Was-Murdered-By-Lord-Voldemort. Now, Draco, do you see your part in all of this?"

"Not clearly, my Lord. I would be honoured if you could enlighten me as to my role in this."

"Of course," Voldemort replied with a sneer. "You will capture the mudblood, later torturing her to death, and you will dispose of the despicable Muggles that produced her."

Draco stayed very silent. This would be his first murder, and it would involve Granger? Sure, he had said that he hoped the mudblood know-it-all died in second year, but he never thought he would actually be a part of that death. Taking a deep breath, Draco said, "I thank you, my Lord, for entrusting me with this excellent task. When shall I begin?"

"We will start immediately. Lucius!" Voldemort yelled suddenly, "you will remain with your son and I at the front of the house. Goyle, MacNair, Dolohov, and Mulciber, you must surround the house. If the mudblood tries to escape, stun her."

A chorus of 'Yes, my Lord' was heard from the Death Eaters, and they quickly rose and crept quietly through the trees, back towards the street. Lucius remained with Draco and Voldemort and the three stood perfectly silent within the grove of trees, with Voldemort staring into the star covered sky, as if waiting for something.

Several minutes later, that something was revealed as a single, silent red flare was sent into the sky.

"It is time, Draco. Come."

Voldemort walked through the trees, blasting them silently out of the way as he went. Draco was close behind him, his silver eyes set straight ahead, and Lucius followed his son. The three cloaked figures emerged from the forest and assembled in front of a small, two-story house. It appeared that everyone inside of the house was asleep.

"Your father is here in case you fail to perform this task I have set. He will take over in the event of your inability," Voldemort told him warningly.

Here Draco's father intervened and walked up to his son, grabbing him roughly by the arm and twirling him around to face him. With his face merely inches away from Draco's, Lucius said sternly, "I must tell you, Draco, that if you refuse to complete this assignment, you will not live to see the sun rise again. I did not raise a traitor, and I have faith that you will breeze through this task. However, this is your warning."

Lucius released his son and strode over to the side of the yard, disappearing into the shadows but still staring intently at his son.

"I will not fail you, my Lord," Draco replied to Voldemort.

"Very well, Draco. A silencing charm has been placed around this house, so do not hesitate to be as loud as you wish. You may begin."

Voldemort stepped back as Draco placed himself directly in front of the door, raised his wand determinedly, and whispered a quick spell. A blue light shot from Draco's wand and hit the door with so much force and power that the door was shattered into a million pieces.

This was it.

----- --- -----

A/N- I'M BAAAAAAAACK!:) I hope you all enjoyed the beginning to this story! It's mostly background, but bear with me; It'll get better! I did originally have much more action in this chapter, but it made it much too long, so I decided to move it all to chapter 2. It took me a while to think of a simple, fitting title, but I did it, and this story is finally up! I hope it won't be long until the next chapter goes up, but it might depend on how many reviews I get! ;) Chapter 2 has a passage that involves rhyming, so it might take me a little while to write, so be patient! In the meantime, review, and I'll keep writing! :) :) --FieryPhoenix--


	2. Fateful Night

**_Friction_**

Summary: "No gem can be polished without a little friction." Thrust into a world that neither knows, Draco and Hermione discover this truth as they struggle to save a forgotten realm and escape the futures that have been dealt to them. D/Hr!! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the wonderful characters that were created by the lovely and talented JK Rowling. However, the plot and all characters and made-up settings that you will encounter and do not recognize belong to me. :)

**_Chapter 2- Fateful Night _**

Hermione Granger was lying on her bed, her feet propped up on her pillow and her head at the foot of the bed. She was covered with her quilt, and beneath the quilt Hermione lay holding a flashlight over the brittle pages of an aged book that Dumbledore had given her. He had said that she might find it interesting, and as soon as she had read the title, _'Everything You Could Possibly Know About Magical Realms' _she had been hooked. Hermione loved to know everything.

The more of the book that Hermione read, the more fascinated she became. She dreamed of traveling to one of these far-away realms, and she eagerly turned another one of the yellowed pages, hoping to soak in more information before she fell asleep.

At the top of the next page, Hermione began to read the curly, decorative script:

_'Cyprian Mahaffey, a British wizard, perished in the realm of the Nautili in the year 643. Mahaffey and his brother, Tivilus, stumbled into the realm in the year 642. Cyprian died after stealing a ship from the Nautili and accidentally sailing it over a 500 metre waterfall. Tivilus, who was not on the ship, barely managed to escape the angry Nautili and return to __Britain_

Hermione stifled a laugh at the stupidity of the man. She had read earlier that the Nautili were a race that lived in a far away realm that was predominantly water. Throughout the generations, the Nautili had perfected their boat-making skills, and each boat took years to build to the satisfaction of the peoples. These ships were the Nautili's pride and joy. Cyprian's brother was lucky to make it out of there alive.

Chuckling a little and shaking her head, Hermione continued on to the next entry:

_'Fredericka Marmaduke, an old witch from northern Britain, died in the Menorlands on an unknown date. In the year 1357, an accident with an exploding potion sent her and a friend to the realm. Fredericka's friend was transported back after the little potion that had splashed on her wore off, but Fredericka herself wasn't as lucky. The massive amount of potion that had coated her at the time of the explosion never wore off, and Fredericka is believed to have died in the Menorlands of old age._

What a tragedy, Hermione thought to herself. To be stuck in a land with the Menor for all those years! She had read a few accounts earlier in the book of people that had travelled to the Menorlands. The Menor were quite unintelligent creatures that closely resembled dwarfs and were incapable of human speech. They lived in caves and wore animal skin for clothing. To be alone with just the Menor for company for years and years was unimaginably dull. Hermione wondered if maybe Fredericka died of boredom.

As Hermione giggled at this thought, she suddenly stopped. Was that a noise she had heard outside? She bravely threw back the covers and crept closer to her open window. It was too dark to see anyone outside, but she knew that she heard the unmistakable sound of two, maybe three people whispering, and it sounded like they were right on her front lawn.

Hermione held her breath and reached out to pull back her curtains. Her room was at the front of the house and she had a clear view of the entire front lawn from the large window of her room. She slowly reached out her hand and grabbed hold of the sheer, white curtains that obscured her view. Pulling them back ever so slightly, Hermione peered through the tiny crack that she had created. The streetlamp in front of her house was out, but in the dim light of the next streetlamp over, she could just barely make out two figures standing on her front lawn.

Two masked, cloaked figures.

The realization soon hit Hermione as she watched one of the hooded figures advance on her house. The people were Death Eaters. With a horrified gasp, she quickly let the curtains fall back into place and stumbled hurriedly backwards. Her gasp, however, was drowned out by a horrific roar as a jet of blue light that had been fired from one of the individual's outstretched wand connected with her front door, shattering it.

The force of the curse shook the house, and Hermione tripped, falling backwards onto her bedroom floor. As the window above her shattered, shards of glass rained down upon Hermione. She screamed and threw up her arms to protect her face and neck, but the many jagged shards sliced deeply into her arms, legs, and any exposed skin. Hermione winced and gritted her teeth against the white-hot pain as fear ripped through her. What was happening?

"Hermione! Honey, are you alright? Hermione, answer me!" Hermione sat up slowly and painfully at the urgent sound of her father's voice.

"Daddy! Daddy, get out of the house! Leave now, it's Death Eaters! Take Mum and go, quickly!"

As she said this, her mother and father ran into their daughter's room. Upon seeing her crouched on the floor, covered with blood, they rushed towards her, concern etched in their eyes.

"It's just a few scratches. I'm fine, but you have to get out. If the Death Eaters find you, they'll kill you without a second thought! Please go!" Hermione pleaded of them.

"Of course not! We are not leaving you here alone. We would never do that!" As her mother answered in a scared voice, footsteps sounded on the stairs.

"They came for me, not you, Mum. I can handle it, just please, go."

"Young lady, we are not leaving here without you. Don't you ever think we would desert you," Hermione's father answered in a hard, fierce voice. He grabbed Hermione roughly, careful not to harm the slashes on her arm, and led her quickly into the shadows in the corner of Hermione's room.

Hermione watched as her father listened intently to the slow footsteps in the hallway. The Death Eater paused at the doorway to Hermione's room, and Hermione and her parents held their breaths as he surveyed the room, unable to see them in the dim light. After a few agonizing moments, he continued down the hallway.

"Follow me. Don't make a sound," her father whispered urgently to his wife and daughter. Creeping slowly across the room and into the hallway, the trio set off down the stairs, careful not to make a sound. As they reached the middle of the stairway, Hermione's mother stepped nervously down onto the next stair.

"CCRRREEEAAAKKKK...." Hermione froze at the loud sound. Looking quickly up, she locked eyes with her mother and saw the terror that clouded the woman's eyes. Mr. Granger wasted no time, grabbing the two women's arms and pulling them quickly and noisily down the rest of the steps. They didn't care anymore about being quiet—they could hear the Death Eater barrelling down the upstairs hallway towards them. The one thought in all of their heads was to get out of the small, confined space and out into the open as fast as they could.

The doorway was 10 feet away... 5 feet... 2 steps... As the cool, late summer air hit Hermione's face, a hand grabbed her roughly from behind. Yelping in pain, Hermione fought to escape, but her captor had a tight hold on her wrist. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione noticed that two more hooded Death Eaters had appeared from the shadows and had seized both of her parents. As Hermione continued to struggle against the man's clutches, a high, cold laugh sounded from in front of her.

"You can struggle and scream all you want, but it will be in vain. No one can hear you. You can't escape me."

At the sound of this cold, shrill voice, Hermione froze. Looking up slowly, she raised her eyes to observe the hooded man in front of her. Unlike the others, he wore no mask. His long, pale face appeared white in the moonlight shining upon it, and the red slits of his eyes glowed slightly. With a gasp of realization, Hermione felt her knees go weak.

Lord Voldemort, the Dark Lord himself, was standing on her front lawn.

"NOOOOOO!...LET ME GO, YOU...YOU...EVIL..." Hermione stuttered, her voice half filled with anguish and half filled with anger. Voldemort simply laughed at her.

"Why, if I let you go, my plan would be ruined. No, I think I want to have a little fun with you instead. You, dirty little mudblood, am going to help me kill the Potter boy. Of course, you won't be around to see it, as you will be dead."

A muffled yell came from the right of her and Hermione turned her head to find her mother and father bound magically with ropes extending from the two Death Eaters' wands. Her mother had collapsed to the ground, tears glistening on her cheeks and her father had gone white, staring stonily ahead.

"What are you going to do with them?" Hermione questioned Voldemort in a brave voice. "You can have me, but you must let them go. They don't have anything to do with this."

"Why, but they created you. Their filthy muggle blood runs in your veins. If it weren't for inferior creatures such as them, the name of wizard would not be tarnished by the likes of you. They will be killed of course."

Panic filled Hermione's chest as she struggled to put on a brave face. She could not let Voldemort think he was getting to her. She could not show that she feared him. Right now, she had to think of a way to escape and save her parents, and that was all.

Racking her brain hurriedly, Hermione came up blank. That wasn't like her at all. Then, quite suddenly, a familiar voice sounded in her head. She couldn't quite place the voice, but right now she didn't care. She needed all the help that she could get.

_"The wand...use the wand..."_

The voice drifted wispily through her mind. Hermione's eyes grew wide and she struggled not to smile. Of course, she still had her wand! She had taken it from her bedside table and placed it into her pyjamas when she went to examine the noises outside of her window. But how could she get it? Her captor was grasping both of her wrists rather tightly behind her back, and her wand was in the front pocket of her pyjamas.

The answer dawned on Hermione and, had she been able to, she would have slapped herself for being so slow. A simple Accio Charm would work! The only trick was to do it without being noticed.

As Voldemort conversed with two other Death Eaters that had appeared, Hermione, unnoticed, whispered silently under her breath, _"Accio wand!"_ Slowly, as if the wand knew what was happening, it floated right into her wand hand, unseen by the hooded man keeping a firm hold of her wrists.

Formulating a quick plan, Hermione took another breath and prepared to put it into action. She slowly counted to three in her head.

_"One...two...three!"_

As Hermione hit three, she raised her foot, hard, catching her captor right in groin. He groaned, but his grip on her, although weakening remained. She had been prepared for this though. As he was distracted by what she could only imagine to be extreme pain, she pointed her wand behind her and yelled, _"Diffindo!"_

Hermione was finally let free as the Death Eater behind her wrenched away his hands in order to stop the steady flow of blood that was now flowing from his sliced open left cheek. As soon as he let go of her, Hermione dashed towards her parents. Her back was now turned to Voldemort and his Death Eaters and, as she ran, she felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Whirling around on intuition, she raised her wand just in time to conjure a shield charm. A stupefy spell ricocheted back towards the Death Eaters, hitting one of them. The tall, hooded man fell to the ground and lay, motionless.

Reaching her parents, Hermione swiftly cast an impediment hex on the two Death Eaters holding her parents. They too, surprised into inaction by Hermione's escape, fell to the ground. The ropes binding her parents coiled back into the two wands and her parents stumbled forwards.

Hermione turned to run towards the street, away from the Death Eaters. She easily deflected another jinx sent her way, although this one didn't hit any of the surrounding hooded men. Voldemort just stood in one spot, and Hermione was unnerved to find that he had an evil smirk on his pale face. He noticed her looking at him and, with a high, cold laugh, spoke.

"Oh, you thought you could get away that easily? There isn't merely a simple sound barrier charm surrounding your house. There's another barrier—one that you will never be able to get through. Its Dark magic, and only me and my servants know the counter-charm. You're trapped."

Hermione's mother gave a strangled cry behind her, and she could feel her father's grip on her free hand tighten. No, she thought, she had to escape. She couldn't let Voldemort get her parents or Harry. There had to be a way out.

Suddenly, the wispy old voice drifted through her head again and Hermione's heart leapt.

_"Eradico...destroy...Eradico...use it...Eradico..."_

Eradico...destroy...what did it mean? Realization quickly dawned on Hermione, and she dashed swiftly towards the invisible barrier, pulling her parents behind her. Feeling around, her hands touched upon a cool, hard surface. As Voldemort cackled evilly behind her, Hermione thought to herself, "This has to be it."

Stepping back and concentrating hard, Hermione raised her wand. She made sure to hide it from Voldemort—after all, it must look to him like she was just a scared little mudblood, desperately trying to find a way through a barrier that he thought to be indestructible. On the contrary, she now knew a way through it.

Without a second thought, Hermione drew all of her power into the core of her body, concentrating hard on gathering it all together. With a small smile, she let it loose with a simple incantation.

_"ERADICO!"___

A deafening boom sounded around her as the barrier splintered and exploded with a flash. Hermione shielded her eyes against the light and started sprinting blindly towards the outside world. Hermione heard Voldemort give a strangled yell and order one of the Death Eaters to go after them. Hoping the Death Eater in question was not close enough to her, Hermione, with her parents in tow, ran towards the wooded park across the street that was slightly visible in the vague moonlight.

Hermione didn't get far before she heard her mother scream and felt her father's grip slip from her hand. Spinning around she was faced with the sight of her parents standing as still as if they had been frozen before her.

Hermione's quickly realized that one of the hooded Death Eater's had hit her parents with the Immobulus Jinx, an easy jinx to reverse. She swiftly reached for her wand in order to free her parents. However, in the split second that it took her to reach for her wand that she had stupidly replaced in her pocket, she let her guard down. Another masked, hooded man quickly sent a binding curse her way and, unable to conjure a shield, Hermione found herself bound with chains so tight that they were painfully digging into her torn flesh.

"I don't know how you managed to disengage the barrier, but as you can see, your pitiful attempt at escape has failed. You are no match for the Dark Lord," Voldemort said with a high-pitched, evil laugh. "You," Voldemort snarled, pointing to the Death Eater standing guard over her parents. Hermione noticed that the left side of his mask was severed. He was the one who she had used the Diffindo charm on. "It is time. The next phase of your initiation has begun. It's time for the murder."

Hermione's stomach dropped. This was it. They were going to murder her parents right in front of her eyes, and then use her as bait to lure Harry to Voldemort. Her attempt to escape had failed, and because of her, the wizarding world was in even greater danger than before.

Tears were rolling down Hermione's cheeks as from the side she watched the hooded, soon-to-be Death Eater position himself in front of her parents. He was not far away from her, and as he raised his head, his hood slipped back slightly and his eyes were illuminated in the moonlight. Hermione gasped and she felt her insides turn to ice. She knew those eyes only too well.

Draco Malfoy stood, draped in black, before her doomed mother and father. The couple was magically frozen, holding each other close. They looked up at the young boy, no older than their daughter, with an indescribable kind of terror in their eyes.

Anger tore through Hermione. She wanted nothing more than to rage upon this person who was inflicting so much fear upon her parents and so much heartache upon herself. She wanted to cause him as much pain as she possibly could.

Deep inside of her, unnoticed, Hermione's magic began to flare up, much like how it did before she attended Hogwarts and learned to control it. It quickly grew in intensity as Hermione stood, watching her Slytherin classmate with hatred and fury. Her eyes flashed and she felt the chains binding her begin to splinter.

As Draco slowly raised his wand towards her parents, Hermione loudly cried out and, with a crackling sound, the chains around her fractured and fell to the ground in pieces.

Draco's head quickly snapped up and he met Hermione's eyes for a moment. Deep within their silver depths, Hermione thought she saw a brief, indescribable look pass, but there was no time to think of such trivial things.

At her escape, Voldemort had ordered the Death Eater's into action. They attempted to stun or recapture her, but Hermione's uncontrolled magic seemed to be creating a kind of shield around her. Without uttering a single spell or lifting her wand an inch, curses and jinxes were ricocheting off of Hermione.

Hermione turned to rush towards her parents, but to her shock she found that she was being withheld by some invisible force. Slowly, she was being driven away fro her parents, towards the wooded park across the street. Although she resisted, Hermione knew it was no good. The force, whatever it was, was much stronger than she.

"Draco, do it now! Kill the wretched Muggles!"

Out of breathe and sobbing uncontrollably, Hermione knew she could do no more for her parents. Her heart felt like it was being ripped to shreds as she looked at her parents for what she knew would be the last time before Draco, her sworn enemy, would murder them. Whispering under her breath, "I love you Mom. I love you Dad. I'm sorry..." Hermione finally gave in to the force guiding her and ran towards the dark, shaded trees, not wanting to witness Draco's deed.

As Hermione entered the blackness of the trees, she heard a firm, determined voice yell behind her, "AVADA KEDAVRA!" A bright green light lit up the forest surrounding her and Hermione let out a sob, tears blurring her vision as she blindly felt her way through the brush. They were gone. Gasping for breath and vaguely aware of the stinging pain caused by the rough trees thrashing across her sliced arms and legs, Hermione tripped.

Acting on reflex, Hermione threw out her hands to soften the blow when she fell face-first into the hard, packed earth.

The blow never came.

Hermione kept on falling, falling into oblivion.

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_AN- Not my favourite ending, but I struggled. You know when you have a vision, but you just can't seem to put it into words? Yea, that was my problem here. But I got chapter 2 out for you guys! :D Anyways, I don't have much to say for this chapter. Thank you to everyone who reviewed Chapter 1; it means a lot to me that you like my new story. I know I said that there would be a rhyming part to this chapter, but I lied. I stuffed this chapter so full of new stuff that the old stuff made it too long. As a result, the rhyming part (which I have yet to complete) will be in the beginning of Chapter 3, along with some answers to questions you may have, and a whole lot of new stuff thrown in there. So please, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! I can't stress enough how important reviews are to me! Even a short little, "good job" makes me so happy so please review and tell me what you think, even if it's bad! Before I go, I will reply to my 11 lovely reviewers from last chapter. I love you guys! :) Here goes:_

_Lover del Dragon- My first reviewer! --hugs-- Thankyou, and I hope you like this chapter!_

_Kathryn Black- Glad you thought it was interesting and mysterious! Thanks, and keep reviewing!_

_Izadora__- Thanks for the compliments! Sorry for what I did to her parents, but you'll understand later that it had to be done!_

_Andrea- Thank you! You'll just have to wait and see if her failed the task... Keep reviewing!_

_Infallibleamour__- Your welcome! I'm glad someone paid attention to my emails! And thank you for reviewing!_

_sugar__ n spice 522- I hope this is soon enough for you. Thanks for the review!_

_Ellie- Of course there is more in this chappy! Thanks for the compliments, and keep reviewing please! :)_

_LiLbLueangeL1223- I feel sorry for Draco too. In my eyes, he was born to a destiny he never wanted. Thanks for the review!_

_Princess Chisu- Thank you! Keep reviewing! :)_

_Christi-__Lynn__- I hope you find this chapter exciting! Thanks for the compliments!_

_HogwartsHeadGirl1- Hope this update was soon enough! Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you continue to!_

_So there you go! Thanks to all my reviewers and I hope to get more reviews this chapter! Thank you, FieryPhoenix :)_


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